Champs fortnight

Alongside a report deadline at work I have also been getting used to racing on my new (although not so new now) Whyte bike. First up was the Southern Champs at Wasing where I lined up agaist Sally Bigham (Topeak Ergon) and many of the usual racers. I managed to get off the startline fastest but was soon overtaken as we headed up the fireroad climb at the start of the lap. The course was quite varied including a steep, sandy chute and the usual woody singletrack. My legs were not at their best however and my seatpost slipped part way through and I had no way of putting it up I eventually finished after a quick 1 hour 30 minute race in 3rd position behind Sally in first place and Jo Munden () in second both clearly stronger than me on the day.

The racing was really secondary to the socialising however and it was lovely to catch up with all our friends and hang out in the feed zone creche. Chris had a storming ride to finish 8th in the Expert men and Simon Ernest finished 3rd in the Master Men.

Second up was the rather longer National Marathon Championship race in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. Doing a few more marathon races this year I was keen to try and get a good result here. Particularly since this was to be the first single loop marathon championship in Britain - EVER! I had planned my nutrition carefully and made sure the bike was set-up correctly (thanks to Andew Cockburn and Chris) especially after the seat-post issue of the preceding week. We travelled up the day before and stayed in an apartment in Innerleithen so we were able to do a quick loop on the Innterleithen 7 Stanes trails as a shake down ride - what a shake down ride!

Race morning arrived sunny but chilly. After a bit of a warm up and a chat with Scottish friends we hadn't seen since 2011 we lined up ready for the rider briefing. We were rather randomly girdded - possibly on whether the organisers had heard of us at all since Jane Nuessli, the no 1 ranked marathon racer in the world, and Tim Dunford also with World Marathon ranking points were not gridded! I was on the third row - but since the start was to be neutral for several miles it was not really going to be an issue.

As the whistle blew everyone jossled for position and we charged up the road. I was quiet comfortable in the bunch but some people wanted to be right up the front and charged past on the other side of the road. As we hit the first fire-road climb my HR was already pretty high so I decided to settle in and ride at my sustainable race pace. All was going well until unfortunately my sadlebag undid itself on the first long bumpy descent scattering my tube, multi-tool and tyre levers on the trail. I had no idea this had happened but one of the other girls around me let me know my car key (attached to the bag) was hanging out and I ought to sort it out. I stopped quickly did up the saddle bag again and carried on knowing I could not afford to puncture now!

A couple of girls had passed me whilst I sorted this out and entering the first bit of singletrack it was clear to me I was able to ride it faster than them. I politely asked itf I could pass as I usually do but I was given no room. I understand this and never expect anyone to let me pass, just request space where possible. Clearly one of the girls took offense at this however and was rather rude to me on the next climb. In race mode I saw red and answered back angry that I was being accused of being aggressive when I was simply doing what is normal practice in XC races - in hindsight it wasn't worth it and I apologise to everyone who had to listen!

The next section was a rather boggy mess which we had to run through and then a nasty climb up to the first of a number of trig points. I was still feeling pretty good, eating every 30 minutes and drinking when I remembered. The next couple of hours is rather a blur but I remember the descents were all really good fun, especially those which were muddy and required 'letting the bike go where it wanted'. I started to cramp after about 3 and half hours which given how much I had eaten and drink I was rather disapointed I still had the issue. For some reason I decided that to get rid of it I should eat a High % zero tablet raw (anyone tempted by this - its not recommended). This sort of worked but it was better when I put some in my water at the next feed!

The climb up to the top of Minch Moor (sp?) was really good - switch backed all the way. I was struggling a bit by this point and still getting cramp butI knew it was basically the last climb (thanks to the man that told me this). This was followed by a great bermed descent where I really noticed the maneuverability of my Whyte 20C. Clearly tired by now I managed to flip myself over the bars into a big muddy puddle towards the bottom of the descent just before feed zone 4. I was absolutely soaked. No problems with the bike however so on I went. A bit further on I saw the distinctive green Assos kit of Verity Appleyard behind me - no time to relax then. I went absolutely as hard as I could for the remaining 45 minutes of riding.

 Informed on crossing the line that I had finished second I was very pleased - although you wouldn't have known it at the time since in my delerium all I could talk about was my lost bike computer which had fallen off on the last descent (thank you to Steve Penny who returned it to me the following week). I also realised later when I went to wash my face that I had gel and mud everywhere - it was not a good look. A few minutes to compose myself again and have a wash down and we stepped onto the podium. This was the first time for me on an elite national championship podium and an amazing feeling after nearly 5 hours of racing.

Congratulations to Jane Nuessli (BMC- Fisher) was the deserved winner of the stripey jersey for 2012 and Verity Appleyard (XCracer.com) who took bronze. Thanks to everyone who has supported me especially Whyte for the awesome bike!

Do unto others...

I try to be mindful of fellow travellers. Cyclists when I am in the car and pedestrians and other cyclists when I am on the bike. It seems to me that most other people move around the world in a completely selfish bubble.

Yesterday I spoke to the mother who walks through the Greenwich foot tunnel every morning to take her child to school. In the lift she thanked people who walked their bike through the tunnel. Why did she feel the need to do this? Because on previous occasions she has had to shelter against the wall of the tunnel whilst cyclists zip past at speeds of around 25 miles an hour. Think how terrifying this must be?! The vision of a mother sheltering her small baby's head made me think again and I now walk rather than cycling slowly, even though in my cyclng shoes I do sometimes slip on the wet floor. Other people just don't seem to notice this. In theory cycling is not allowed in the foot tunnel and in my opinion it shouldn't need to be banned. I can however see, given the complete unawareness of most cyclists, barriers/tight chicanes being erected to make them get off their bikes and walk simply to protect the pedestrians.

In the same way I have had numerous brushes with cars where drivers seem to think it is ok to zip past me at speed with very little space between us. Do they not understand I cannot always go in a straight line, or that their presence itself causes my bike to change direction? The interaction between cyclists and car drivers is well documented and a topic of much current discussion. But the question remains, how can we make drivers aware of how their behaviour effects our cycling? If cyclists are not even aware of their effect on pedestrians what hope do we have of changing the behaviour of car drivers?

Please be careful out there however you travel and think about those more vulnerable people around you. If cyclists gave way for pedestrians; motor cyclists for cyclists and pedestrians; and cars for motor bikes, cycles and pedestrians then surely we would all be much better off?

Last Sunday I did the thing you're not supposed to do - ride a new bike for the first time in a race. I had no issues at all - here's how I did it....

a) You will need - allen keys, tape measure and plumb-bob (or computer mouse as alternative).

b) Measure on old bike which has comfortable set-up:
1- Saddle to middle of BB.
2 - Distance between vertical drop from nose of saddle to centre of BB.
3 -  Nose of saddle to middle of bars. Done by letting string of plumb-bob hang under weight vertically down (as shown in second picture) and measuring horizontal distance between string and centre of BB.
4 - Top of stem to middle of front wheel.

 c) Replicate these measurements as closely as possible on the new bike by changing the seatpost height, saddle fore and aft position and stem position/length. (In my experience the saddle position relative to the bottom bracket is more important than you would think. I've felt like I'm pedalling a recumbant before when I've been sitting too far back.)

d) Change angle/position of controls to suit your hand size and preferences.

Now for the finishing touches:

Can't ride without a bottle cage - thanks Mt Zoom for this lovely Ti number

Kit for frame protection includes bar tape to wrap chain stays, IPA to wipe the frame clean before sticking biketape in vulnerable places.

Vulnerable places include cranks, bottom of frame, and areas where cables rest on the frame.

 Ready to go race.....

Return to Pippingford - Southern XC Round 2

The last 2 races I did at Pippingford did not really show me at my best! They coincided with my discovery that working in your hobby seriously detracts from that hobby and the Pippingford hills are pretty unforgiving if you are not on top form. Last weekend we returned to the scene of some of my slowest races ever for round 3 of Rachel vs Pippingford and I had a new bike to play with too.

The weather had been pretty damp for the few days prior to the race so we knew it was going to be a bit muddy but when we pre-rode in the morning it was way more slippy than I was expecting. Now I do like sliding around on muddy courses but quite a few sections of this course were unrideable entirely. Time to get the running legs/sliding ass ready.

On the (very loud) gun I missed my pedal and was a bit slow getting going. I had to move up and past Emma Bradley (Cotic/AQR Holidays) and then up to Natasha Barry's (WXC World Racing) wheel. Through the first section of slippy single track we moved pretty tentatively and then Natasha slid out on the roots around the base of a tree and I was able to pass. I shouted out to see if she was ok. Hearing she was I pushed on.

Ready to race!

For the rest of the race I simply tried to stay on my bike. This was not actually that easy since most of the course was clay based and very slippy. There were two sections where it was simply quicker and easier to run and another grassy bit which became increasingly hard work as people went wider and wider to try and get a dry line. Chris told me I had a good gap as I went through onto my third lap so I just kept plugging away as best I could.

I eventually crossed the line in 2 hours and 18 minutes - the whole thing was rather reminiscent of some of the Scottish races I did last year both in conditions and in length.

Work on the victory salute required!

After a bit of food from the very tasty concession I then had the pleasure of watching Tim Dunford (Cannondale) and Chris ride to storming results in the Elite (2nd place for Tim) and Expert (10th for Chris respectively). Clearly multiple 6 hour rides in France last week was good for both of them. It was also lovely to catch up with Eric Lejeune an ex colleague from my days at BC and have a good old gossip.

A race of two halves - Roc Laissagais UCI World Series Marathon

As the dust settles on my suitcase and we eagerly hunt the internet for photos I thought it a good idea to pen a few thoughts on my first ‘proper’ European Marathon MTB racing experience. I put the word proper in inverted commas because I have done a marathon abroad before, once, in Gran Canaria and sprained my ankle in the process. I finished but it wasn’t so much a race as a battle for survival. I have also ridden one of the now named CRC Marathon Series events in the UK, however these are not races and won’t ever be until the law is changed in the UK to allow mountain bikes the same access to bridleways for racing as horses!

Going into the Roc Laissagais in the Aveyron region of France, one of the UCI Marathon Series events in 2012, I was therefore feeling quite apprehensive. We decided to make a week’s holiday of it along with Tim Dunford of the Cannondale team so we drove down on Wednesday before the Sunday race. We spent a happy few days pottering about on bicycles and in my case trying not to overdo it whilst riding with the boys in the days before the race. The weather was variable, cold but dry, until Saturday when the heavens opened and I hid indoors apart from a brief hour on the trails. The rest of the time I spent worrying about what I was going to wear for a wet, cold race from the rather poor selection of kit I had packed! By Sunday (thankfully) the rain had passed over and we awoke to an overcast but cold morning. Rethinking my attire again we headed over to the cattle market in the town of Laissagais to get ready to race. [As an aside apparently the weekly cattle market here is the biggest in France - according to the owner of the Gite we stayed in. I’ll allow you to draw your own conclusions on whether this differs significantly from hundreds of mountain bikers!]

I was slightly disappointed with the number of women lining up given the status of the event – 19 seemed not to justify the effort the organisers and the UCI had made to get this event and the World Marathon Series off the ground. That said the field looked very strong and there were a number of national champions and obviously well experienced marathon racers in the line-up. So, this small but perfectly formed bunch was arranged by the commissaries and, at 9am, with the cloud still hanging ominously overhead, we set off up the trail.

 I had a good start and was in the pack. This is rather a new experience for me given the lack of close pack racing in my background and I found it amazing how little effort you had to put in to stay there. We then began to climb and on a corner I made my first mistake. Thinking everyone was missing a trick by taking a wide line on the corner I went up the inside, only to end up in a big rut which brought me to a complete standstill. I took rather too long by my liking to get going again and was now hanging off the back of the pack.

We then went into the most horrendous part of the course. It would probably have been unridable in its sandy, rutty nastiness, without the rain of the previous day, but was definitely not rideable now. I found myself struggling to walk up the hill as fast as the girls around me and was frustrated at losing more ground. Coming down the next descent, probably still a bit annoyed at myself I somehow came off my bike and had now lost sight of the girls I was chasing! My wheel had been knocked out of position by the impact and now wouldn’t straighten – double argh. A big wrench on the bars got it close to straight and I got going again.

At this point I gave myself a stern talking to, and hit the next climb. The first 25km seemed to last forever. I had a real low just before the women turned off at this point and was crawling up the hills at a snail’s pace. All the boys who were staying in our Gite passed me at or around this point and were very encouraging – thanks to all of them for that especially Chris who attempted to give me a tow. After he passed I had another internal talking to,  a top-up of water in my remaining bottle (my second must have come off in the crash earlier) and a gel at which point everything seemed to get much better.

I ended up riding with a couple of girls, each of us taking turns on the front. I have never worked with someone in a race before, since women’s racing tends to be a lonely, time-trial-like affair most of the time and it was a real pleasure to have company, even with a language barrier. Before long a polish girl and I had pulled away from the third girl on a rocky climb and as we continued up she also moved away from me. But then we started to go down. This was such fun descent, twisting and turning between trees, there were some little jumps and some bermed corners; almost instantly I was back on her wheel. Ok, I said, now I remember what this feels like. We hit a muddy climb and both jumped off but I realised I could ride it. On my bike again I started to get a gap, a bit excited I carried on. On the next descent I decided I needed to maximise my advantage and went hell for leather. Now I really was having fun....

I hit a fireroad and went right, it seemed to make sense, but there was no course marking. Turning around I saw the Polish girl had done the same. As we went back around the corner we saw where we should have gone. Rather annoyingly the girl who had been behind us saw our mistake and managed to go the correct way. The missed trail was another great muddy descent though followed by a ‘Paris-Roubaix’ style set of cobbles. My confidence had fully returned and I took back both places and hit the next climb.

For the rest of the race I felt really good. My legs felt strong, despite a bit of cramp, and I was riding well. I crossed the finish line in 4 hours 33 minutes and in 11^th place.

I am very pleased. It is an OK result, but more than that I know I can do better and I can overcome feeling really horrid in the middle of the race. I know what to do differently - eat more and earlier; make sure I have two bottles firmly fixed to my bike even after crashes; carry some electrolyte tabs in the back pocket for emergency cramp prevention (the feed zones only had water which is was ok for most of the rest of the field who had support crews out on the course handing up bottles and food to them). Most importantly though I am confident I can do this kind of event now, rather than just thinking I could and even better I can be strong in the latter parts of the race. Going forwards I just need to make sure I give myself the best chance in the first half of the event.

Southern XC round 1

Now the XC season has begun in earnest. Last weekend was the first of the regional series races which for me this year are the southerns.
Still on the old faithful whitey (my tired but comfortable kinesis) my first spin around the course was cold and misty - not what I had anticipated from reading the weather forecast. The course was, on first impressions, very boring. 'What is all this going up and down fields?' I said to myself as I suddenly plummeted down a steep descent, skidded my back wheel around a loose corner and then struggled up a slippy, flinty climb (see team-mate Simon's blog on www.xcracer.com to see how I described it to him after the finish). By the end of the lap I was grinning like an idiot.

I had no idea how the race would go. I was quite tired being in the middle of a big training block and had compounded the matter by being doored by a taxi whilst cycling hard to try and not miss my train for Henley (I missed it but thats another drama). So as we went off into the first section of singletrack I was simply pleased to be in the front group.

I passed Jo Munden (Pedal Heaven) when her bike (and the mud) disagreed with her on where they should go and clung to the back wheels of Mel Alexander (Cardif Jif) and Alice Barnes (Twenty3C-Orbea). I couldn't hang on up the steep climbs so had to let them go, but towards the end of lap1 passed Mel who had punctured. Chasing a single rider who I could see in the distance I made the most of my familiarity of with mud (thanks Scottish XC) and closed the gap a bit but then began to feel my legs fading. As I was tiring the mud was getting more sticky and draggy (see Steve James' blog for a good description) and the combination was lethal! By lap 4 - BOOM that was me in survival mode.

Mel had passed me back by this point - an impressive show of strength especially given she then had chain issues and had to pass again to take the win. Alice had broken her chain but still took the Junior win. So I crossed the line in 2nd place, very happy and with nothing left in the legs.

Its nice to be able to feel competitive. After a few years in the wilderness it feels even better. What pushes you forward as a rider varies so much from person to person. But for me it has been about learning to love riding my bike again after working in the industry left me disillusioned, about hard work, a happy headspace and the people who support me (thanks Chris and coach Simon).

Start as you mean to go on....

Sunday 26th February was my first race of the MTB season - the Gorrick Spring Series 2nd round. The new bikes have not yet arrived so was on my old faithful Kinesis newly refurbished with a little help from SIP events and Chris. Still being car-free (fingers crossed for a few more weeks only) I had to get the train out to the venue. This was surprisingly easy - cycle to Waterloo, get on train, travel for an hour, get off train, cycle 3.5 miles. I only came unstuck when on the side of a fast dual carriageway I was unable to find the venue. This is annoying in a car, and more annoying on a bike (and time consuming). In the end I went for the get into the woods and head in the general direction of the event and ask people tactic. This worked! Eventually!

Signing on I didn't recognise many of the names on the list but having been north of the border for a a season this was hardly surprising. I did however see Jo Munden riding around and knew it was going to be a tough one as she is a very strong rider.

A blow of the whistle and we were off... very slowly.... all of us had fallen foul of the downhill to the start and were in too big a gear. But the start was also downhill so after a pedal turn or two we were up to speed and hurtling towards the first loose corner. Gingerly making my way around and sprinting out I glanced back to see I had a good few metres already. Blimey! Head down and go time then.

Head down and go!

The course was really good, lots of short sharp climbs, loose descents, one unbelieveable bugger of a hill that I even saw top men walking up and an absolutely smashing bermed descent down the other side. It was a good thing, I realised on my last lap, that I was always behind someone going slightly slower than I would have on that descent and not able to pass because I might have done myself some damage it was so much fun! Most of the race I was riding with the middle of the sport male pack until Jo Munden managed to catch me on the 3rd lap. She made a really good pass so I just sat on her wheel and had a bit of a breather whilst working out when I could attack again. She then told me she was racing sport due to a recent injury. So we had a nice chat and rode through to her finish and for me to head out for the last time. Grabbing my final bottle from Simon (Ernest who had been kind enough to come and help me out with baby in tow) I was feeling rather good again and having had one person catch me wasn't keen for another to do the same. Head back down again then.

Thanks to the pit crew

It was not a worry in the end however and when I crossed the line I had a good gap over second and third. To say I was chuffed is an understatement. This was my first MTB win since I promoted myself to elite and although only early season and a local race it is confidence inspiring to get a win under your belt.

Thanks to Simon, Mel and baby D for the support, Joolze Dymond for cheering like a mad thing and all the guys for chatting to me and making it a sociable race! Until the next one...